Food For Health
Fruits
Vegetables and Pulses
Nuts and Seeds
Meat and Poultry
Fish and Seafood
Food For Weight Control
Food As Medicine
Food Tips
Health Nutrition
Healthy Cooking Guidelines
The nutritional content of healthy foods can be enhanced by careful cooking. On the contrary, they could be debased by bad cooking.
There are many common cooking methods that we use to prepare our food. Each of these methods has its own benefit and drawback. Below is a table that shows the benefits and drawbacks of each common cooking methods.
Common Cooking Methods Compared
| Cooking Methods | Benefits | Drawbacks |
| Raw | Retains maximum nutrients normally lost through cooking | Not suitable for wide range of foods |
| Boiling | No added fat | Boiled vegetables lose up to 70% of water soluble vitamin B and vitamin C. |
| Steaming | Retain more nutrients than boiling | Lose 30% or more water-soluble vitamins |
| Microwaving | Retains most water-soluble nutrients if minimum water is used | Easy to over-cook or under-cook |
| Baking / roasting | No added fat necessary with meat | Heat destroys vitamin C |
| Braising / stewing | vitamin retained within dish | Can be high in meat fat |
| Grilling / barbecuing | No added fats. Fats in meat melt and drip out of meat. | Overgrilled, charred meat is linked with many types of cancer. |
| Frying | High fat | Retain water soluble vitamins |